


You're Lightning in a Bottle

by Damalia (Achrya)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Anxiety, Feels, First Meetings, Getting Together, M/M, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 22:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9038111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Achrya/pseuds/Damalia
Summary: When people find out Noya is a dragon, and an alpha fire dragon at that, they tend to...well, be skeptical, at best. Dragons have a certain image (big, imposing, moody) and he doesn’t fit it. He’s come to accept that and, contrary to what Ryuu says, has not developed a complex. ...Not much of a complex anyway. Likewise Asahi has gotten used to people turning tail and running when they find out what he is. He’s transferred to Karasuno University for the Supernatural, after a year 'off', in hopes things will be different. He’s not really expecting much.Their paths touch and cross and twine together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This summary is...um. Lacking. But there’s a lot going on and trying to work it all in would have...been a lot. I think my tags cover it all but, for the record, there’s the getting together/relationship aspect, some mental health dealings, a little mystery/danger maybe. 
> 
> All magic shown and performed in this story is a mishmash of stuff and for fun, not meant to tread on anyone’s beliefs or religion.

 

“And that’s how the keycard works.” Suga said as he pushed open the door and stepped inside, Daichi at his heels. They both shed their shoes and then stepped off to the side together, leaving the boxes and bags they were holding on the floor. Asahi followed, careful to avoid tripping over anything, and let the door slip shut behind him.

Without the shaky orange light of the hallway the apartment was plunged into near total darkness. Only the weak light of the setting sun coming from the windows kept it from being so. Asahi dropped his boxes on the floor with a sigh, all too happy to be done with that part of his move. He didn’t have a lot of stuff and with Daichi and Suga’s help he’d been able to get everything up in one trip but he found he felt like he’d done a lot of work. That they’d had to carry everything up three flights stairs because the elevator was out, which was so very Asahi's luck, probably had a lot to do with that.

And that he’d spent most of his day on a plane, in airports, and then an hour on a bus might have had some kind of impact of how he felt. And that he’d barely slept the night before, or the night before that, thoughts of what awaited him at his new university keeping him up. Moving across the country to go to Japan’s only mixed Supernatural and Human college was...it was something he wouldn't have imagined himself doing even two years and the past few days had been spent in a panicked haze. He’d second guessed everything, unpacked and repacked more times than he cared to admit, called Suga no less than three times including right before getting on the plane to insist he couldn't get on the plane, had an unfortunate panic attack on the train that he could still feel the effects of his sore and tense jaw and...it had been a long couple of days.

He’d half been expecting to wake up and find it was all a dream at any moment. There was no way he'd finally let Suga and Daichi talk him into leaving the small local college he went to in their home town in favor of coming to the huge, fancy Karasuno after two years of them swearing it would be better, _be different_ , here. No way he'd actually stood up to his grandfather and left in spite of disapproval and being forced to dip into the money his mother had left him to make tuition.

None of that was stuff he would do and yet here he was

“The light should be-” Daichi started. A soft click filled the air a moment before light filled the small room. “There.”

Now that everything was inside he let himself take a moment to consider the small apartment. He’d only seen it (or, rather, a show apartment) online before today but seeing it in person, and knowing it was his, was different. He’d yet to live on his own and, while this was off campus student housing and thus not a whole lot different from the dorms, he couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

Even if the place was technically one small room and a bathroom.

Just about everything could be seen from the front door save the bathroom which was behind the only door, aside from the front door, in the apartment. The walls were cream colored, the floor freshly cleaned laminate that resembled wood, and the dominating feature was the bay windows, looking out onto the courtyard, which was currently packed with new students trying to figure out where to go, and the wooden shelf in front of them. There was a bar, complete with two stools, that separated the tiny kitchen from everything else, a low table with cushions around it, a desk and chair and built in bookshelves in one corner, and a rolled up futon on the floor near that.

It was bare, aside from the provided furniture, and simple.

Asahi liked simple.

“We have to help Shimizu and Yachi out in the courtyard,” Daichi said, calling Asahi’s attention to him. He was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and tapping his fingers against the surface. “And then there’s the Welcome Meeting at 8, but we can grab something to eat after? Help you unpack.”

Asahi frowned, eye widening slightly. He knew his friends were the student advisors for the three buildings that made up this ‘set’, Suga for the Witch students and Daichi for the Turned/New Creatures, but he hadn’t realized they’d have other things to do. Things that were probably more important than carrying his boxes or taking time to help him settle in. They were busy, even without factoring in advisor duties, and he knew that but instead of doing their jobs they were up here, with him.

“You don’t have to help me if you have other-”

“It’s fine.” Suga cut him off, grinning in that way of his that was both fond and exasperated. “I’m positive they survived a whole ten minutes without us.”

“Well, yes, but-”

“You came for a new start right? First new thing: learn to enjoy your friend privilege.” Daichi said, voice firm. “While everyone else is confused and getting lost in town or on campus you’ll have the best tour guides around. Accept it.”   

It was his ‘Asahi, you are my best friend (not counting Suga but that was a weird boyfriend/best friend category all it’s own) but I’m not in the mood for your shit’ voice. It was the very same voice he’d used when Asahi had called his friends insisting that he didn’t think he could get on the plane after all and that he was sorry for all the effort they’d put into helping him transfer and get into their building and generally getting his failure of a life together and-

The point was he knew that voice; it invoked images of dark forests and thousand year old trees, golden eyes in the shadows, and a warning growl. There was no point in trying to argue with that voice unless he wanted to see Daichi get scary and no one wanted to see that. He grew fur when he got angry enough and arguing with Asahi seemed to make him angry enough eighty percent of the time. So he nodded and followed them back out of the apartment without a word. He stood in the hallway, smiling wanly as Suga stood at the top of the stairs, listing off the best places to grab groceries or a snack if he got hungry in the meantime and where the Welcome Meeting was going to be and reminding him that he could call if he needed anything before then and-

Daichi was rubbing at his eyes and shaking his head. “Suga. It’s going to be 2 hours at the most. He’ll be fine.”

“OH!” Suga shouted, ignoring the way Asahi and Daichi both jumped. “And the wards! They're decent enough, they have some witch students do them for as a club activity but you're going to want to strengthen them. They aren't nearly enough for you.”

Not enough to keep out the sort of things Asahi’s nature invited in.

“I’ll do it now.”

Suga nodded again then, finally, let himself be tugged down the stairs. He could hear them, Daichi sighing loudly while Suga wondered out loud if he’d missed anything, and smiled in spite of himself. He didn’t like when people fussed over him, it was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but it was hard not to feel a little warm inside when Suga was the one doing it. Besides, if Suga was fussing that meant he wasn't being his usual softly mocking self and Asahi got all the (not soft or gentle) teasing he could take from Daichi.

Though, maybe, he missed the days when Suga didn't treat him like he was made of glass and one wrong word might shatter him beyond repair. He didn't know how to get those moments back because...well, he'd proven that he would break. Had broken.

But that was then and this was now and things were supposed to be better. He didn't know if such a thing was possible but he'd sworn to Daichi he'd do his best to stop worrying Suga.

He shut the door of his apartment and, sighing softly, looked around. Two hours to kill? Getting things put away was about all he had to do so, that in mind, he went to the box labeled ‘Altar’ that he'd gently set down when he'd walked in. He picked it up and carried it over to the bay windows, humming softly. He knew Suga kept his altar in the same spot, on the wooden window seat overlooking the courtyard to catch the light of the setting sun and moonlight at night, and Asahi figured that was as good a place as any for him, even if he disliked being set up in front of a window.

Windows let things in but that was the point of warding.

He set the box down then regarded the window and sill carefully. He could see a line of salt and red brick dust sprinkled along the ledge, a paper ward pressed into a corner, and a pouch of herbs hanging above the window. It was a little more than anyone would typically do in one place but then places where the supernatural community mixed with humans tended to need a little more protection. He could feel the energy pulsing from them, a low hum that brushed soothingly over his skin. Whoever had done the warding was...nice. Well intentioned.

Young. Eager. Strong, in their own way. The warding was done well and it was certainly enough for most people.

There was nothing that would keep the things that haunted him out but it also wouldn't take much to build on what was there and improve things. Satisfied with that he began to unpack his box; fresh candles, bowls, a pocket knife, a few crystals, chalk, jars of herbs, his journal, and at the very bottom his altar cloth. It was old, soft in the way that came with years of use, and felt thin and delicate between his fingers. He maintained it as best he could, mending tears and handling frayed edges.

For now it was in as good of condition as was possible, cleaned and repaired before he'd left home.

He unfolded it then laid it out, smoothing out wrinkles and making sure all the runes along the edges were where they needed to be. This was, among other things, what he would use to seal his own warding to what was already there, and he needed it to be perfect.

The chalk outline came next, along the wall around the window on all sides, and then a bundle of dried rosemary, St. John’s root, and sage, already bound with a length of white thread. That, a bay leaf and a little birch bark went into one of the stoneware bowls. He dropped a match on top and, once it had caught, set it aside to burn out.

The smoke would do it’s job even if he didn’t watch over it.  

He wasn’t big on long rituals and intricate spellwork, mostly because he didn’t actually have the power for it beyond an uncanny knack for warding and shielding. He was a witch in the most technical and broad sense of the word, because there was some magic in him, but he wasn’t one in the way Suga was. It was more...a label that came from lack of other labels that it was That and Necromancer but word was the sort of thing that made people, even the most open minded in the supernatural community, run in the other direction. People didn’t like death and they didn’t like people who dealt in death.

And who could blame people for feeling that way? How many times had he tried to run away from himself at this point?

He glanced out into the courtyard, seeing not the dozens of excited students but the handful of things that moved around them, through them, and in some cases were chained to them like staticky anchors. It was like watching silent film characters glide through a modern movie, shades of gray and flickering, jumping in and out of the frame like the film had been cut improperly or skipped.

He shivered, a feeling like icy fingers stroking up his spine, then turned away.

Lingering in front of the window would only cause problems and he had other boxes to unpack. If he was quick he might even get enough done that there was no point in Daichi and Suga trying to help.

By the time 7:45 rolled around he had managed to load all of his books into the bookcase, unpack all of his clothing and get it hung in the small closet in the bathroom, put away the few things he had for the kitchen, set up his laptop and console, and whatever else he had aside from that went to its new ‘proper’ place. He really hadn’t had a lot to begin with, not wanting to burden Daichi and Suga with looking after a bunch of stuff when he’d had it shipped, and he wasn’t overly picky about where things went.

He walked down to the courtyard, where the meeting was being held, and came out into the large grassy area just as Daichi was calling for quiet. For the most part the courtyard was nothing but grass, a stone walkway that connected to the sidewalk, some trees, and a few stone benches and tables, but in one corner there was a slightly raised stone patio with wooden garden furniture and a couple of grills. Suga, Daichi, a nervous looking blond woman, and a beautiful dark haired woman were standing there, waiting.

About six dozen other students were crowded around the patio stairs, whispering and chattering quietly. Asahi slid into place at the back of the crowd, head down. Flickering images moved around him but he’d long since learned that as long as he didn’t look at them they wouldn’t look back.

“I think that’s everyone.” Daichi said when quiet finally descended. “Welcome to Karasuno off campus housing. All of you should know the basics, since there are no freshman among you and I’m sure everyone has already read the rulebook and knows it by heart-” Laughter rippled through the crowd. “So we’ll keep it short. We are you advisors. You can come to any of us with anything, school related or not, but we are each the ‘specialized’ in an area to better suit your needs. I’m Sawamura Daichi, a senior, and I’m the New Creature advisor. I live in building A.”

“And,” the darkhaired woman said, stepping forward. Her voice echoed strangely; the hair on Asahi’s arms stood up. “I am Shimizu Kiyoko and I’m the advisor for Natural Born Creatures, and I’ll be in building B. This is Yachi Hitoka, a sophomore, and the Human advisor, who will be in building C.”

There was crawling pressure between Asahi’s shoulder blades and, even though he knew he shouldn’t look because looking just brought brought bad things and he was so tired of bad things, he couldn’t help himself.

_This was how things always go wrong for you. This is how you invite things in. Will you never learn how to just be...normal?_

At first all he saw was two men, both smaller than him, in matching orange sweatshirts, and loaded down with boxes, coming down the walkway. One had a shaved head, broad shoulders, and a fierce look to him. The other was smaller, much smaller, and was talking fast as the boxes in his arms swayed dangerously. His hair was odd, shaved on one side while the other side was a nest of dark brown hair that just brushed his ear. Blond bangs swept over his forehead and hung into his...eyes…

Eyes.

Suga’s voice became a dull whine and the rest of the world went out of focus.

They flickered towards Asahi; for a moment they were a plain medium brown and then he saw more; gold around the iris, copper flecks in the brown, pupils that were narrow slits. Asahi saw that, saw him, and then saw past him.

Dragons, copper and golden scaled with bodies like buildings and wings as big as trucks, tall and commanding and deadly against a backdrop of foggy sky that burned orange and mountains that bled molten rock. Fire and smoke and ash and death, earth and metal on his tongue. They spoke to him in words he didn’t know but understood.

_We are the guardians. We stand and watch, eternal._

He blinked and it was gone. Everything else came back. Suga was at his elbow, calling his name and the other students were starting to break apart and leave. Daichi was there too, regarding him with a searching expression that made Asahi's throat burn with guilt. 

He was doing it again. 

He made himself smile sheepishly. “Sorry, I was somewhere else.”

“Were we that boring?” Suga asked teasingly then, as heat rushed up Asahi’s face, laughed. “Come on, Daichi is giving tours but we can steal pizza from the lounge and finish unpacking.”

"You're ditching me?" Daichi looked scandalized. 

"I'm helping Asahi get settled. That's completely different." 

“Oh. Right. About the unpacking.” Asahi rubbed the back of his neck. 

\---

Noya cringed against a sudden pressure in his skull and a chill that swept over his skin. He shook his head, trying to chase away the dull pulsing pain. It wasn’t that bad, he’d had worse hangovers, but he’d been fine, more than fine, just a moment ago.

He saw Ryuu stop a few paces ahead of him and realized he must have stopped moving as well. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah. Just got a weird feeling.” He muttered, eyes cutting over to the Welcome Meeting. This was their second year in the off campus apartments so they’d timed their arrival to miss the boring talking and be there in time to snag pizza and check out the newbies. “Let’s get inside before Daichi notices us.”

And ripped them new assholes or worse, made them help with the tours.

"Too late." Ryuu muttered and, yeah, fuck, Daichi was standing with Suga and some giant guy Noya didn't recognize but his eyes were on them. And he looked about three seconds from stalking over and growling in their faces. "Run for it?" 

Noya didn't even have to answer before they were both dashing for Building A's entrance, the strange pain all but forgotten. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *deep sigh* if you notice any misspelled names let me know. I typed a lot of this on my phone and we're having some differences in opinion with some things. (It so desperately wants to correct Asahi to Ashai and I don't understand why my phone wants to hurt me like this.)


End file.
